17. December 17th
December 17th
Lorelei
I wake up as the sun streams in through the windows in my living room and realize that I must have fallen asleep on the couch last night. I may have been sucked into a Hallmark Christmas movie after the tree lighting.
Our small town tree lighting always puts me in the mood for a good romantic holiday movie.
The movie has inspired me to plan a date for Scott instead of letting him do it all.
Me: I’m planning tonight’s date. Be here at 7:00 when Oliver goes to bed. ;)
I hop onto Pinterest to start planning. I’m going to make a Christmas themed Charcuterie board for Scott. He loves Charcuterie boards, and the reason is comical to me. He said his boys would always get Lunchables as kids, and he always wanted some but his wife would never buy them for him because he was an adult and didn’t need one.
So, when charcuterie boards became popular he said it was like he was finally getting to enjoy those Lunchables and have it be acceptable.
Now, normally I would buy him Lunchables, but, gross .
So I’m making him a fancy one. And then we’re going to picnic by the tree because I always loved to set up picnics for the girls by the tree.
Last night sitting with Scott, by the tree in the town’s center, I could see why they always loved it so much.
A cozy fire, the lights on the tree, a soft blanket, and some nice Christmas music playing will make this perfect.
It was difficult to get everything set up and have Oliver not want to stay up to hang out. So I couldn’t let on that Scott was coming over.
Oliver decided that bedtime meant nothing to him tonight. Luckily, he is now sleeping soundly and Scott was able to come later.
Scott: I’m here, but don’t want to knock or come in in case you aren’t ready for me yet.
Oops. I forgot to tell him to just come in.
I open the door and he is standing there nervously.
“Hi. I wasn’t sure what to do,” he says with a small smile on his face.
I take his hand in mine and gently pull him in the house.
“I’m so sorry! I got busy setting up and forgot to text you!” I stand up on my tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips.
His smile alone makes me weak in the knees, why did I fight this for so long?
I lead him into the living room where I have the charcuterie board, and two beers set up.
“You got my favorite beer?” He asks when he sees a six pack of his favorites sitting there.
“I might have run into Jason at the store, and he might have given me a heads up on a few of your favorite things.” I smile, knowing that Jason was all too happy to help me.
“Remind me to thank that boy. And thank you for doing something so thoughtful.” He pulls me in close, enveloping me with his scent and warmth.
“It’s really not anything compared to what you do for me. It’s the least I could do.” I wrap my arms around his waist, snuggling into his chest.
“You made me a charcuterie board for dinner, and made it Christmas themed, with my favorite beer. This is one of the most considerate, thoughtful things anyone has done for me.” He kisses me and steps back.
We sit down to start eating, a very late dinner, and conversation leads to his ex-wife, Susan, because I’m honestly curious about her.
“So, tell me about Susan. She’s back for good, and I’m in your life. Will you try to build a relationship with her for the boys and peace around town? Will I get to know her?” I ask.
“Well. I don't know if we can have a relationship. The boys were older when we divorced. But our relationship ended well before that. We spoke about the kids, and what needed to be done around the house, or sports games, but we didn’t talk, not even as friends. I hurt her when I chose my work over her time and time again. She distanced herself and I didn’t fight it. Like I said, I was able to salvage my relationship with my boys, but not her. So I apologize if she is truly moving back for good, you’ll probably have to run into her, hopefully she is kind to you,” he admits.
“Do the boys still have a good relationship with her?”
“It’s okay. They talked once a week when she left, but she got a little selfish after the divorce. She wanted to focus on her new life, and I think the boys took a backseat too often,” he shrugs. “I’m a little curious if she’ll even stick around. She was so happy to get out of Lupine Valley.”
“I hope for the boys that she sticks around.” I can’t imagine moving away from my girls willingly.
"Me too, they would like that." His voice trails off quietly and we both settle into the silence as the movie drones on.
We spend the rest of the evening talking about Christmas traditions growing up, and watching an old claymation movie. We are snuggled on the couch with the soft blanket covering us. His hands roam under the blanket and so do mine. I'm reminded of being a teenager again.
Unfortunately, Scott is the gentleman he always is and left for the evening because Oliver was spending the night with me.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and another storm will come while we are together leaving us stuck together.